Far Cry 3: Lions and Lambs
by miss.ripps
Summary: A vacation gone sour. One friend is dead. Another is missing. The remaining two are hunted by pirates and inked by the mysterious Tatau that is said to provide them strength. They must survive the Island and all her trickery, become warriors and earn Citra's respect, obtain the strength needed and fell their enemies to save their missing friend from the man they call The Tyrant.


Hello everyone! Here is the second Far Cry installment written by myself and the lovely Nina.

Title: **Lions and Lambs****  
**Pairing: Oc x Hoyt / Oc x Vaas / Doug x Vaas (Bromance)  
Time: AU / Prequel  
Rating: Mature

Full summary: A vacation gone sour. One friend is dead. Another is missing. The remaining two are hunted by pirates and inked by the mysterious Tatau that is said to provide them strength. They must survive the Island and all her trickery, become warriors and earn Citra's respect, obtain the strength needed and fell their enemies to save their missing friend from the man they call The Tyrant before she is sold into slavery. But they do not yet understand just how dark the archipelago really is after sunset nor the rabid Giant who has gotten wind of their scent.

* * *

Life was a blur. A haze of bright club lights and white sandy beaches filled with music that left her ears ringing and her head pounding by the end of the day. This was the life that not everybody got to experience, and not many enjoyed. All the bikini's and the margarita's and the bad selfies and dropping phones into the tide pools. Each and every moment recorded on the web and liked by friends and family. We were all just kids here in the end. Kids trying to have a good time, trying to relax, trying to enjoy life. We were all just finishing college and this little adventure across the world was in celebration of our hard work. With the last of our allowances and grants left at the end of the semester we all decided to take one last trip together for old times sake before we all began our new lives in the careers of our dreams, moved away, started families. In a way we were all saying goodbye to each other, knowing we would never see one another again, we would never drink together, never study together, never play another dorm room prank. Yet in a way...in the midst of all the dazzling lights and music and laughter...we were saying goodbye to ourselves. The Philippines would be the last moment in our lives where we were free and wild, living in the moment without a single care about the future or the past. And when we all boarded that plane home...we all knew we would be returning as different people – educated people, refined people, off to make our way in the world and carve out our lives. This was where the party ended for us all. And where ultimately our journey into the prison of productive citizen's we would walk. Never again to dream of flying without wings. Never again to truly be free. But not all of us were able to enjoy this outing, cause sometimes...wounds cut far too deep for a few maitai's and ocean waves to nurture. And sometimes those wounds hurt so badly that you end up doing things you later regret. Sometimes those wounds killed.

The tequila stung as it went down, causing a cringe from the would be Communications major as she slammed down the third shot glass of the day admist the cackle of her friends. The music blared a catchy, carnivale sort of Caribbean dubstep trash mix upon the deck of the meager vessel in which they were all spending their last day. They'd been out on the sea since the morning, one last adventure before they all went home, and not one she was particularly looking forward to. But she danced gently on her seat as she sourly sucked on a fresh slice of lemon "Fuck me..." She finally addressed them grumbled as she spit out the skin of the lemon, but her tone was deceptively lighthearted and slurred from ultimate intoxication – which seemed to be the only thing really to do around here that was remotely worth a damn. Right now she was a rock star, amongst her friends, away from her worries...but it was only a matter of time until the realization crept back up and she was sourly reminded that while she was among friends here she was still sitting here alone. And when she did realize it perhaps minutes or hours had already gone by.

Tomorrow they were all due to return to America, to family. Seemed like yesterday they'd only just arrived and now it was all over. Sad really. But necessary, nothing could last forever after all. That was a thought that Sorcha had only finally come to accept as the sunny days of young teen love slowly drifted away. And as the years went one she realized that the old days of giving the world the finger and living for love were over. And so she sat there, committed, but alone. Save for Doug – who had chosen to lean against the rail like the smug asshole that he was . He wasn't part of their little group, they'd met him the day they came in, the only sucker they could find that spoke English and who was kind enough to give them directions to their hotel and even toured them around the island while he was at it. And like feeding a starving cat...he just never left. Everyone liked him, even she did to some capacity, and he just kinda ...stuck around with them for no real reason it felt like, just because he happened upon them and he was bored maybe. Potential adrenaline junkies he could share his addictions with and luring them away with all sorts of activities all through out the week. He was still in the same red tank top, same one he'd been wearing all week, and he seemed to be permanently attached to his camera – which he had used to film them since day one. He said he was some sort of amateur film maker...none of them thought anything of it.

Doug was filming them as usual, a panorama of the deck as her friends partied away and she picked at the chips in her own merry little tequila induced world as Doug panned the camera over into her direction. "You're beautiful." She heard him say and she looked at him with a mixture of horror and shock, "Beats being an ugly fuck like you." She replied instinctively, and with some bitterness, Doug only laughed in response and she looked at his camera if only to satisfy him briefly, quirking at brow at the lense. She wasn't a very tall girl, only twenty two or so and about five foot six, but she had a sort of exotic appeal to her that was hard to place. Her hair was a chestnut auburn shade, most of the time a rich brunette but in the right light the fire came out. It matched her personality well, the calm and calculating type with the spark of an Irish temper that was both phenomenal yet frightening all at once. She got that from her father. While she got her looks from her South American mother. "You know..." Doug continued as he slid closer and circled around her at close view while she followed him with her eyes, "You're a seriously uptight bitch, have you accepted cock into your life yet?" He teased but Sorcha detected a tone of cruelty in there offhandedly and and she instantly shoved her hand into the camera lens. "You and your cock can fuck off." She snapped, agitated as her eyes scanned the environment for the bottle blonde she called her woman – who would so happen to have appeared to be very missing.

"The fuck is Scha'tzi anyway?" She asked, mostly herself, but loud enough. Though her real name was Maybelle, she went by Scha'tzi. Sorcha hated the name herself, it sounded like a cheap stage name you'd hear in a twenty dollar titty bar, but she liked it, said it matched her own name well, so she said nothing. She never said anything anymore these days it felt like. Scha'tzi always had so much to talk about, her life and her feelings, what she wanted and what she thought. Always talk about Scha'tzi. They'd met in high school and had once been inseparable, standing against the stereotypes and the teasing and bullying, the offhanded hatred and the disapproval of h parents. But maybe about a year ago things hadn't been going so well...or maybe she just realized that it hadn't ever gone well since the start and she'd been too blinded by adoration to realize, she really didn't like that girl at all. These days it was like babysitting a two year old who wanted to put everything in their mouth. More often then not Sorcha found herself worrying about Scha'tzi, what she was doing, where she was going, if she would come home that night or three days from then. Scha'tzi was always wild at heart, something that couldn't be tamed, but she was immature still and reckless. So who did Sorcha become over the years? She'd gone from lover to mother.

"She went to the bathroom." She heard Doug reply and Sorcha slid from her seat with a sigh, a stagger in her step. "That's what you said an hour ago." She moved away from the would be camera man, feeling that stupid device on her as she weaved across the deck and through the two people she called her friends who all looked like blurs of color right about now and down into the bowls of the ship and the familiar giggle of her girl from the inside. The short little blonde was leaned over counter top awkwardly, humming to herself. Sorcha could only see her back but it wasn't rocket science to figure out what was happening. Doing lines again. Typical. Her temper simmered and Sorcha shot forward, pulling Scha'tzi up mid sniff and and confronting her aggressively. "The fuck are you doing? Are you fucking stupid?" Sorcha was vicious when she was angry, but Scha'tzi was worse wen she didn't get her way and the girl was quick to shove her lover away violently. "Fuck off Sorcha, you don't own me! I'll do what I want when I want to!" If looks could have killed so they said, but Irish blood dictated that no fight would ever be anything less then bloody and brutal. "You don't even know what that shit might do to you!" Yet still she tried to reason with the drunk and high woman as if there ever was a chance at that, she hadn't been able to reason with Scha'tzi for over a year – yet she kept on trying time and time again. What was it that they said about people doing the same thing over again and expecting shit to change? "At least it makes me feel good!" Scha'tzi's words cut deep, re-openng old wounds in the process as the girl shoved past her and instantly a wave of guilt washed over her. Scha'tzi was good at making her feel like she was the one at fault for everything...even when she wasn't. But that guilt quickly turned to anger as she found the lounging red tanktop as he spectated her from the stairs that Scha'tzi had zoomed up. Sorcha growled as she pursued the young woman, shoving Doug and his camera into the wall of the boat, seizing Scha'tzi's arm as she tried to disappear into the deck.

"Scha'tzi..." She soothed but the girl ripped free of her quickly. "Don't fucking touch me you depressing piece of shit! All you do is ruin everything!" The blonde was viperous, yet Sorcha only saw a disobeying child before her – and it was irritating. "Yeah cause it's always about you isn't it?" She stabbed the girl's ego, she could tell. Scha'tzi didn't like to be criticized or referred to in any sort of negative light. She liked her little overinflated world where she was perfect and everyone else was the problem and in retaliation for breaking that bubble, Scha'tzi's hand's collided with her face before the girl flew off onto deck. Stunned Sorcha recoiled backwards down a few steps, but the girl was long gone from her sight by the time her vision stopped swimming with rage and a chilly sobriety dried up the liquor in her veins. That guilt was back again and she already regretted what she'd said as she pouted, rubbing her cheek as she cast her eyes down to the floor. "Daaaamn." She heard Doug behind her and she looked down to find him closing in on her again...with that god damned camera on her. "You filmed that?" She asked with a grim suspicion but the guy didn't answer her, rather he snaked his arm around her shoulders as he turned the camera towards them and upward into the perfect Myspace angle, leading her back onto deck. "Don't worry about her. Tomorrow none of this will even matter anymore." Whether he was being a smug asshole or legitimately trying to cheer her up she couldn't tell and she didn't look at the camera, but glared away from it, having had enough limelight for the rest of her life.

"One more drink!" Doug announced after looking at her and seeing the ghastly expression on her face.

"No." Sorcha dully replied. But Doug's arm merely tightened around her, "Yes." He countered, "Just one then I'll let you go." And he pulled her back to her seat as Scha'tzi leaning over the railing to spectat the growing green island in the distance, and spilling her down into her cushion again as he seized the neck of the Tequila bottle and poured another shot. Sorcha had been too distracted to notice their destination approaching.

"Drink up." Doug said, offering her the glass.

_It was all very well to say `Drink me,' but the wise little Alice was not going to do that in a hurry. "No, I'll look first," she said, and see whether it's marked "poison" _

All things considered, the Phillipines trip was probably one of the greatest things Ash had been lucky enough to be on in her life. Having grown up in a fairly isolated farm next to a tiny Texan town, not even in her wildest dreams could she have come up with anything like this vacation. That was keeping in mind she frequented her time with Scorcha and Scha'tzi, both of whom rarely allowed a dull moment in their lives one way or another. The only downside to the whole thing was realizing just how much of a problem one of her friends might have and therefore set her older sister instincts into overdrive worrying about Scha'tzi

"Hey-" The words caught in Ash's mouth as the blonde herself stormed past her without so much as a glance, though the quick look she'd gotten at her dilated eyes and scowl told her everything she needed to know. "Right." She cast a glance at the already empty hall behind her before stepping out onto the deck herself, needing only a moment to wonder where Sorcha might have gone off to if Scha'tzi was in a fury like she was. Bar, she answered herself mentally and dodged several fellow partiers in search of a bar where a likely irritated brunette would be sitting.

As there were very few women who looked like Scorcha, locating her was easier than to be expected. Through a large group of giggling older women she spotted the girl flanked by Doug at the bar and ducked under a passing waiter's tray to hop up into the seat on the other side of her friend. "You keep carrying that camera around and it's gonna fuse to your hand, mark my words," She addressed Doug with a grin and a friendly wave to said camera "You know what I think you need?" She gently nudged Scorcha's shoulder with her own, flagging down the bartender for her own shot. "I think you need to come with me to the club upstairs. The music is better. I'd be about as upset as you look if I'd been listening to this shit as long as you have. How long HAVE you been here, anyway?" Ash paused with her shot glass halfway to her lips, her expression kept neutral but her eyes speaking volumes of concern.

"I don't like seeing you upset. We're on this amazing vacation, and I think we should make the very best of our last day. Like... Like we should do something wild. You, me, and Scha'tzi. I mean I know you guys are... Having a rocky point. But maybe we just need one last hurrah before we start acting like grownups. Huh?" She gently nudged the girl next to her again, leaning down enough to properly see Scorcha's face with an excited look to her now. "It doesn't have to be anything wild like skydiving, but something to remember and look back and smile on. Yeah?"

The glass had been pushed into her hands and the wandering DJ was looking at her expectantly. He wanted this one as relax as possible when the party began. So she could get along with everyone when they showed up. See Doug had friends coming to play with them, and these fucks didn't know it yet, but they soon would. See, these people? They were his flock right now, his unsuspecting flock, and he was their Shepard – leading them all to their cages. But this little lamb wasn't cooperating very well at all, shame really, considering she was quite the slice – which was the only reason he was going through so much trouble. He didn't want his little cherry pie to be ruined. The camera focus closely on her, just as closely as he was as Sorcha stared down at the tiny glass in between her digits. She's forgotten why she was here again and what the point of all of this was supposed to be. Why did she drink this shit anyway? It didn't make her feel any better did it? No it just made things blurry and her mouth loose. It made her numb and stupid...but it didn't do anything for the mood. She drank it because everyone else did, because that was the normal person. But she wasn't one of those was she? Somewhere in her head she felt like she was crazy, like she didn't belong here, like she didn't belong with Scha'tzi or back in New Orleans. She felt like she was adrift in an endless void of passing bodies and fake apologies and black lies. Sorcha was an orphan in her own body, walking and talking like everyone else, mimicking everyone else – just so they didn't look at her sideways...but it wasn't what she wanted in the end. What she wanted in the end was just to sleep.

Sleep and never wake up again.

It's not like she would be missed anyway right? Or was she wrong about that? "Driiiiink~" Doug chimed and her eyes flicked upwards towards him, a cold and callous leer as she put the shot back down upon the bar in defeat. It was one of those moments, one of those "too depressed to drink" kind of moments. The kind of moment where someone could very well get hurt. "C'mon...don't be a lightweight." Doug taunted, a hint of aggression in his voice, her eyes meanwhile had found Scha'tzi as the girl laughed with another gentleman, an older man. Sorcha wasn't a jealous type...but she didn't trust that girl to behave herself anymore. Cause she knew she wouldn't. "Bon rien..." Sorcha mumbled, eliciting a giggle from Doug as he shot the camera forward, "What the fuck was that? You speaky French to moi?" He asked, with a horridly inaccurate attempt at a French accent.

And just in the nick of time to save Doug from the four day limp that was coming to him, another blonde appeared before his camera and smoothly he moved back to catch her into the frame, a sly smirk crossing his face. "Hey don't hate baby. We're making memories right here." Doug wasn't even pretending to be civil anymore, they were far gone from civilization now, and far to close to the end, and he was far to excited for the party to chill out now. He could almost taste the tears on his tongue already. The redhead turned on her seat to face to bartender, noticing he was also wearing a red wifebeater top...and so had been the waiter that had just happened by. Strange fashion statement...all things considered and when she was nudged she growled in disapproval. Ash was the one person she trusted above everyone else. They hadn't know each other for very long but she had always been there to pull her up for air when she needed that helping hand the most, even if she didn't want it most of the time. And she looked over at the green eyed blonde and just one look at that beaming face was enough to lessen the stress on her own face, but not enough to bring out a smile. No one could make Sorcha smile, not even Sorcha.

Then she'd opened her mouth to speak...or protest something when it hit her that she really had no idea how long she'd been sitting here. Far too long probably. And that somehow lead her to another thought...about where their fourth wheel was hiding out at. Ash looked like she'd been waiting for an answer before she drank but Sorcha only closed her lips as Doug moistened his own and snuck a pan down the blonde's shirt by pretending to lift the camera upward to look at the bottom of it. It was enough of a sign for her that she really needed to get out of this place. If she couldn't even answer such a simple question. And just like that Ash knew that her friend wasn't well in that very moment, and all it took was mere silence to know. That was why she loved her. Sorcha needed to be pulled up for air again...yet this time it wasn't the same. And past her shoulder she was watching her significant other, the very idea of pretending to enjoy herself was painful. There wasn't any fixing them...Sorcha knew that. And slowly she looked downward, "I don't think I have the energy, cher." Sorcha replied quietly as she fondled her warming shot glass still full to the brim with liquid courage, "I feel old..." She added and instantly Doug crashed down into the seat at her opposite side, his chin landing upon her shoulder.

"Hey don't be such a downer, once we get to the island you'll change your mind. _Trust me_." The Dj chimed, "I got the party of the century planned when we get there." Slowly Sorcha leaning away and turned her head to look at the scruffy faced man, in a bewilderment.

"I have a right mind to toss you in the ocean right now." She threatened, though her tone was deceptively playful.

As the pounding headache of a hangover finally started to subside, Bryan finally opened his eyes in the dim light of the cabin. Oddly enough, he found his vision obscured by bright pink and it took him longer than he'd care to admit to realize it was because a sticky note had been attached to his forehead. Upon inspecting the note after he'd peeled it from his skin he gave a huff of irritation.

_We went to go have some fun and not get blackout drunk. __When__ If you wake up then we'll probably be out on deck.  
- Ash :)_

As he rolled out of bed he crumpled the note in his hand and tossed it carelessly to the side. His original plan of tagging along in hopes of eventually finding his way into one of his three companions' beds had failed miserably. That much had been clear the second day into this trip. His problem was by no means that he was unattractive- he could easily be described as tall, dark and handsome. The problem, Bryan reasoned, was that he'd opted to go for a business major, an art history major, and whatever Scha'tzi was. It didn't matter really, Sorcha stood firmly in his way of that particular conquest. All three of them knew better than to get involved romantically with a man like Bryan, and therein lay the issue.

And then there was Doug. The moment he'd shown up Bryan knew he was after something, that much was obvious. A player knew another player from a mile away, and Doug was most definitely one. The only thing was, Bryan couldn't for the life of him figure out what his game was. At first it had bothered him, the presence of potential competition, but Doug was hard to not like.

For the moment Bryan shook his thoughts away and set about dressing, wisely choosing to stumble around in the dark rather than face the sunlight just yet.

"It is a pretty nice day for a swim." In contemplation Ash looked out at the strikingly blue water and clear sky, then back at Doug. "If you grab his arms, I'll get his legs and we can just toss him right over that rail. I wonder if there's sharks down there..." "There are." At the sudden appearance of another person at her side Ash jumped, nearly knocking her second drink to the floor. "Jesus. Good to see you're alive. Finally," She added quietly, smiling sweetly in response to the scowl Bryan gave her. "There's really sharks?" As if she could have seen them from where she sat, Ash craned her neck to look back at the expanse of ocean as Bryan gave a nod of confirmation. "Yup. Saw a couple on my way up here. Nothing too huge, but they were just kind of chilling out near the ship. 'Sup." He gave a nod in Doug's direction as greeting, quickly finding it was best to turn away from the man with the strong light behind him.

Bryan looked over his female companions with a derisive snort, straightening up to illustrate the size difference between himself and the nearby Ash. "Doubt it." While it was true that he was a good few inches taller and far more built than the girl next to him, it still had him doubled over with a hand on the bar for support when Ash's elbow to his side caught him off-guard. "That was a lucky shot. Nope!" When she tensed again to strike, this time he lifted her bodily from her seat to place her in one further away from him but nearer to Doug. "You can stay in time out. Thanks for the free drink." With that he knocked back Ash's forgotten shot, eyes settling on the bartender for some reason.

Since coming topside, Bryan had found himself tense in the presence of some of the crew. It was nothing overt in any way, but in some of the red-shirted men's eyes he caught sight of something cold and hard and cruel, especially when they met his gaze. However, Ash seemed not to notice and if Scorcha had seen anything she certainly wasn't going to confide in him. If anything was amiss to Scha'tzi Bryan definitely wouldn't know; he couldn't read the girl even when she was completely lucid.

"What exactly is this party of yours like, anyway?" Ash's voice drew him back out of his thoughts, making him realize he'd been inadvertently staring back at two men across the bar who'd been eyeing the three. "You haven't said hardly two words about it this whole time but then you won't shut up about it. How do you even talk that much without saying anything?" Ash leaned around the camera to actually look at Doug's face, dead set on wheedling at least a hint out of the man. "Are there really tigers? Like... Just roaming around the island? S'pose I'll just hope you aren't trying to get us all eaten alive."

These kids were funny. A few of them more lighthearted then others. Ash was probably the cutest of the bunch, so young and oblivious to everything. Nothing could possibly be wrong in her mind, the world was balanced. The sun was shining the music playing...people laughing. It was all just a typical tropical paradise around here. Everyone hanging loose and just...enjoying nature's gifts. What could possibly be wrong around here? Well they didn't know just how wrong it could be in these parts. And Doug exchanged looks with the bartender after Bryan had stared him down for a second. He shook his head, indicating to the man to hold his shit together just a little bit longer. But it never went ignored the way Bryan looked at them all with that note of suspicion. Like he felt something was off here, Doug had seen Sorcha look the same way at one of the waiters.

But he expected that much from her, she was always thinking in patterns and clues and getting these alarmingly accurate ideologies from just the smallest of shrugs or from a matchbook left lying on the bar counter. She pretended not to see everything...but she did. She always knew a lot more than she let on. That was why he kept a close eye on her. The others though? Well Scha'tzi didn't know her own head from a hole in the sand, she was too doped up to catch onto anything and Ash...well she was Ash. She was the tourist here, none the wiser to the blue ocean and white sandy beaches. It was all fun and games for her. And Bryan... he was a chill dude – but he liked to play dumb. He was a lot smarter than he came off to be initially and Doug knew his game. There was only one reason a bro spent a week following three attractive women around without bringing his buddy along with him. He was after some tail...but he wasn't man enough to take it unlike himself. Bryan thought he was in the game... but he was way off in the bleachers drooling on his own shorts just waiting for one of them to fall head first into his lap. Doug had a feeling...that he and his boss were just going to get along swimmingly. Loners always reacted swell to the alpha dog after all.

Ash's pretty green eyes came out from behind the camera and Doug looked upward from the lenses to meet her gaze, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "That's because I'm talented, Ashley." Doug replied and he leaned in close to her, camera dropping to the floor for the first time the entire trip. "It's like a little get together of sorts, I play music for the people of the island a few times a year. They throw one hell of a party." He explained, cupping her chin with his thumb and forefinger, "And yes there are tigers. But the one's you'll see will be in cages." He leaned back, swiveling the camera around to spy the upcoming island as the ship slowed and prepared to dock.

"You won't be eaten alive by the wildlife... though I can't say the same about the natives." Doug glanced over at her, an ominous grin on his lips, "In a good way if you catch my drift."

For the first time since the very beginning of this trip, Ash's smile slipped a fraction for a split second and she blinked in genuine surprise. Doug had never come across as anything but wanting to hang around and have a good time like anyone else, but just now- with his last comment, the odd physical contact and the almost predatory look he wore- Ash was almost uncomfortable. It was like he knew some big secret and could barely contain himself, only it didn't exactly seem to Ash like it was a good secret. Not to mention he'd used her full name. No one had done that since she'd left home, and up til now Doug had been fine with using her preferred nickname. For the life of her she couldn't understand what exactly was off-putting about the man she thought she'd befriended, he just... WAS. She glanced over at Bryan, who'd immersed himself in another drink before glancing up. "We there yet? Gettin' real tired of hanging around here doing nothing." He leaned off the side of the railing to observe the view, grinning upon finally seeing the island close enough for their disembarking time to be upon them.

As he turned back, however, again Bryan found himself on edge. This time it was definitely not from his now nonexistent headache, or even from the bartender, who he still caught shooting him nasty looks. It was now with the way he'd seen Doug looking down at Ash. It wasn't unusual to catch the man looking at one of the three girls, but what did rub him the wrong way was the sudden lack of playfulness. All he could see on the cameraman's face was something akin to sadism. Bryan was reminded suddenly of the tigers Doug had mentioned- Doug being the tiger, Ash being some poor little deer about to be a pre-dinner plaything. He glanced over at Scorcha and Scha'tzi, honestly wondering if he shouldn't discreetly motion for the former of the two to come back over if Scorcha would just look up from whatever conversation she and her girlfriend were in.

"So. You playing leader for us, party planner?" Bryan leaned forward onto the counter again, ignoring the bartender's stare for Doug. "You sound like you have a to-do list or something. Got big plans?"

"Hell yes my main main." Doug replied as smooth as ever as he lowered his camera again, having spotted what he had been using it's zoom to look for in the first place. There was enough footage of the girls to sell to the buyers, not that they would be the only ones to view it of course. The boss liked to look the tapes over first off, so he knew what he was dealing with before he went climbing into the cages with their new stock – it told him if this batch would be dull or entertaining. The man was a mean fucker...but he was a genius. Doug was pretty sure he'd be happy with these four. Three exceptionally pretty ladies and a punching bag, what more could he want? Maybe of Bryan was lucky they'd find a buyer for him too...assuming he made it off the beach that was. Doug clapped Byran's shoulder with his hand, his perpetual grin returning, "We only got one day and there's a lot to do." He combed his fingers through his dark hair, spying the other two at the railing. "You all just follow me, yeah?" Follow him into hell more like it.

The horn blared loudly upon the Astrid's deck, causing each body that wasn't painted in red to jolt slightly in surprise. The ships captain signaling the arrival of the great vessel as it lurched into dock. "Don't look so serious!" Doug chimed, laughing as he touched Ash's cheek after noticing her slightly horrified expression before he shuffled away towards Scha'tzi, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against his chest. "Hey, chi chi – you wanna film for a little bit?" He asked, breathing again her blonde hair as he looked down the curve of her neck as she blinked out into the horizon in surprise. Sorcha squinted at him, but she restrained herself when Scha'tzi giggled and reached up to gingerly take the camera from his hand. She held it the wrong way of course, so she was more or less filming herself and Doug behind her who grinned into the lens.

"Ok. Turn it around now and let's go explore. C'mon~" He was always gentle with her, she was just a druggie after all and she liked his Coke – so she would listen to him. He turned her around and lead her forward as the crew meandered into deck to lower down the ramp for the civilians to wander off and play on the island. Little did they know that this was the Astrid's final stop. Sorcha watched as Doug whisked away her girl, feeling her heart drop the further away she got. The girl seemed so happy in his arms...but she could barely touch her. It made her wonder if either of them really knew what they liked anymore. She sighed as she looked back out onto sea, blinking and narrowing her eyes upon a fast moving black dot in the distance as it cruised over the water as high speed. Must have been a speedboat or something. She blinked and shrugged it off as she moved to leave the rail and stopped suddenly to find one of the men standing right there...looking at her.

"You got a problem, Brah?" She asked, but the man didn't answer and she moved past him as he turned to watch her go. She hurried quickly down the ramp to catch up to the others, glancing back up at all the dark skinned bodies in red that watched them like jungle cats from the railings. Something didn't seem so friendly anymore...but for all intents and purposes she ignored the feeling as Doug lead them down onto the beach and he released Scha'tzi.

"Welcome to Rook Island, I'm Douglas Stephenson – your totally awesome and drop dead gorgeous DJ host." He announced as his hand slide down his chest and he turned on his heels. "We got a lot to do my friends, where ya wanna start? You wanna swim? Rock climb? Play hide and seek in the jungle?" Sorcha was looking around, watching all the leaves sway in the breeze as she combed her hair back, smoothing it away from her face and tying it up into a ponytail.

"I definitely wanted to look around the beach first," Ash announced, having forgotten all about her earlier discomfort with Doug once she got a look at the aforementioned beach. It was easily the most spectacular thing she'd ever seen in her life, all strikingly crystal blue water and pearly white sand that her feet sunk into slightly with every step. She paused to remove her flimsy slip-on shoes and shook the sand from them before stashing them haphazardly in the tiny bookbag she insisted on carrying. Really she only used it for times like this when she wanted to be barefoot and/or not carry her own discarded clothing items, although today she'd thought to stuff a bottle of water in it as well.

Not for the first time Bryan felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle, causing him to turn to meet the eyes of several of the red-shirted men staring down he and the girls. "We should probably get out of their way," He announced, nudging Ash and nodding for Scorcha to start walking as well. One look at the redhead's expression set him even more on edge now and only added to his growing, but as of yet unfounded suspicions. It was clear she'd seen something odd as well judging from her troubled look, but with Doug watching them all happily as ever, Scha'tzi focused on the camera now in her possession and Ash already headed off down the water's edge in her own little world, he wasn't quite sure how to voice his concerns.

It was just insane enough that Bryan ultimately kept his mouth shut for the moment. What was he even suspicious _of_? If the staff gave him dirty looks, well, it wasn't as though he was the world's greatest tipper or gentleman in general. And if Scorcha hadn't said anything he didn't want to either- it wasn't like she kept quiet when something bugged her. He could very easily attest to that from personal experience. "No need to wait for us!" He called after Ash, who either didn't notice or didn't care that he was calling after her and was far too immersed in watching the tiny fish in the shallows she waded through.

Ash looked up suddenly as a man's distant laugh caught her attention. It definitely had not been Bryan or Doug; rather, this sound had come from further up the beach. She straightened and squinted in the sunlight, raising an arm to shield her eyes as she searched for the source. She found her answer in the slight movement behind a rock inlet that drew her attention to a small campfire just outside the shielded area. Now immensely curious Ash turned to check on her friends' location. Only now did she realize how far ahead she'd managed to get, judging from how tiny her companions appeared. She almost started to head back their way when an indistinct voice came from the inlet again, effectively capturing her attention and holding it this time. Besides, how often had Scorcha wandered off, only to come back with something incredible and hidden she'd found? With that in mind her feet carried her onward again toward the campfire.

And just like that, Doug had lured and transported them. And he didn't need a gun to do it. That was how amazing he was, that was just how talented he was, that was the kind of skill that a Spotter needed in order to make it in this organization. That was why the boss liked him, true he was only a twenty something...but so was the boss – though he was a fair few years older then he was ...two or three he imagined. Not that he looked nearly thirty at all. Doug on the other hand, he thought he looked gorgeous, but in reality he wasn't the handsomest man in the world – Bryan was probably three times prettier then he was. But it was all cool, cause looks didn't matter when you had mad skills to rake in the change. And watching as Scha'tzi walked in front of him was probably one of the highlights of his day, even if he was way more excited for sunset, when the big boss came to have a look at his new walking talking money bags and the important people, being him, would get his pick of the three girls to break in. The Dj had to admit, as he stared intensely at the sway of Scha'tzi's hips, that it was going to be a hard decision between all three girls. Scha'tzi was just smoking, but he wanted to test his theories that Ashley was flexible and not to mention how adorable she was, but then there was the ultimate satisfaction that came from breaking a cockhater. Speaking of... Doug swiveled around, strolling backwards only to find Byran behind him mulling along like the bleacher nerd that he was. Miss Drake, however, appeared to be quite missing.

"What's up with you bro? Why you look so serious back there huh?" The Spotter asked, as Scha'tzi came to stop in the sand. The gentle kiss of the ocean washed against her feet as she stepped outwards into the surf, eyes focused upon the camera lens as she spotted something within the water. This island was beautiful and peaceful, it helped her to relax as she came down from the euphoria of the drugs that Doug had given to her earlier and the trouble with Sorcha was all but forgotten, along with the fact that the girl was actually here at all.

"Hey...look Bryan...Doug." She called as she held the camera in one hand and smoothed her hair over her shoulder. "Yes dear." Doug responded valiantly as he shuffled happily to her side, glancing upwards at the laughter that had gone unnoticed on the girl at his side. He knew that laugh anywhere and he watched as Ash continued down the beach, distracted by whatever. Doug grinned, "Hey be careful up there Ashley! Don't say do anything I wouldn't do!" Not that the girl was listening. Oh well. She would listen soon enough once she found what she was looking for up there. "Starfish!" Scha'tzi chimed, pointing into the reef at the red start lazily meandering along the tidal rocks.

Her friends had wandered off quickly, all fascinated by this beautiful island paradise. Not that she wasn't. Sorcha just felt a little nauseated ...or was it claustrophobic? Either way it left her chest tight and she'd pulled away from the group to walk in the opposite direction just to have a much needed moment alone...yet she wasn't alone. She'd been eying the figures lurking up on the Astrid the entire time she'd kicked through the soft white sand and she swore that they were watching her too, like demons. She shook her head of the anxiety then as she breathed out slowly and inhaled deeply. "Count to five." She mumbled to herself as she approached a floral paradise of the rock face that had come down in some silly archway onto the beach where vines and ferns and white flowers made it their home. She'd paused to look at them, leaning forward to smell the flower only to recoil at its putrid scent. And to think ...it was probably a perfume scent somewhere in the world too. She didn't get the appeal of all of that. Why smell like a rancid flower that smelt like ass? She pulled back and moved to walk down into the water to move around what she thought had been a solid rock cropping when the wind blew the vines inward and an even more rancid smell wafted into her face on the hot jungle air.

Her nose crinkled in disgust as she watched the vines blow inward, revealing the opening between the rocks big enough to crawl through. But the smell...it smelt dead. She wondered if an animal had died nearby and she mulled back up the beach and reached out to part the vines. It was a round little grassy canyon, almost like Alice's rabbit hole in a sense, only vertical, but on the other side was just more beach.

"Down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again." Sorcha recited. Alice had always been one of her favorite stories. And there was a time to think about it would make her smile, a time she'd run around in her little blue dress pretending to explore wonderland and argue with Mad Hatters and smoke hookah with Caterpillars.

But then Alice grew up and she frowned through the opening at her lost childhood before her and she crouched down. Something in the distance through the vines caught her attention and she blinked, squinting at the brightly lit beach at a dark figure lying upon it as the rancid smell hit her face again in another gust of wind. What was that? An animal?

They always said curiosity killed the cat. But … "Yolo..." She said neutrally as she slithered through the opening.

As she drew nearer, some insane urge nearly drove Ash to simply turn from the inlet and run as fast as her legs could carry her. She stopped in her tracks and shivered despite the blazing heat, the thought occurring to her that she stood at such an angle that the rocks obscured her from view.

"Boo!" Ash gave a short scream in shock and reeled away from the rock face, nearly falling on her ass were it not for the laughing man that caught her wrist. "Oh, man, you should have seen your face." As though they were perfectly acquainted the man pulled her forward before she could even think to react, and hoisted her onto the rock he'd been stretched out on to sit next to him. "You one of Doug's friends? Good, man, I was getting tired of _waiting_." Still getting over the shock of being jumped out at and manhandled, Ash blinked in genuine confusion as she tried to process the incredibly odd situation.

At least a dozen men milled around the inlet, all in red shirts and some with bandanas obscuring their faces. It was only now she saw each of them carried assault rifles, AK-47s seeming to be the general favorite. As for the man who currently had his arm around her, he gave the impression of being the one to call the shots. And that most definitely WAS a gun in his pocket pressing against her hip, she noted with a degree of horror. He must have caught the look on her face because he looked down to see what was bothering her and laughed. "Oh, my bad. Better?" He drew the handgun from his waistband to casually wield, grinning much like a cat with a mouse held between his paws. "I know you're not alone, though. The hell is Doug?" He craned his neck to peer over the edge of the rock wall, his grin widening upon catching sight of the man with two other tourists in tow. "Oh, good." He whistled sharply, catching the attention of five of the men immediately and gestured toward the jungle with his gun.

Apparently they understood Vaas meant to circle around behind Doug and the remaining two because they set off at once, and again he relaxed on what he'd dubbed his throne for the moment. "And now we play the waiting game. I'm not gonna get them like I did you, though. You can't do the same joke in a row, you know? But I saw you all by yourself and I was like, I HAVE to. It's too perfect! Didn't your mama ever tell you not to go off alone? There's bad people out there, nena. Someone might snatch you up." To enunciate his words he tightened his hold on the girl's shoulders, making her flinch. "It's a good thing I'm here, huh?"

"Where the hell did she go?" From where the other three still were, Bryan cupped his hands around his eyes to block the sun as he scanned for their missing blonde. "Oh my _god_, I bet she's gonna get herself eaten by a tiger or something. Shit, at least Scorcha can out-asshole a tiger any day. Ash?" He called out, finding that he got no response even after increasing his volume. Again that odd nagging feeling of something just being wrong came to mind, but this time he didn't brush it off.

You know how there was always _that_ friend with a bitch about somethin? Always _that_ friend that just couldn't get with the program, with the flow. That friend that just couldn't relax ya know? That guy that you really didn't want to invite but you did anyway? Yeah? Bryan was that guy and Doug's eyes rolled in their sockets as he listened to the guy having a bitch about something over there. Again. And without even answering his questions. How rude he was...then again Doug didn't care about how the guy felt in the first place and he didn't care if he answered him or not. "Here, give me that. You go out and catch it doll." Doug whispered to Scha'tzi who looked back over her shoulder at him for a moment, scrutinizing his expression for something before she looked at Bryan. "Chill out Bryan jeez." Scha'tzi stated, a hint of annoyance in her voice, she really didn't like the guy but he was Ash's friend and Ash was her friend so by proxy she had to be his friend too. But the guy always irritated her with all his tight ass remarks and grumbling to himself. Big blue eyes turned back to the surf as she slipped free of Doug's hands and stepped carefully into the tide to catch her red five legged prize sucking itself onto a rock out in the clear blue.

Meanwhile Doug looked sidelong down the beach as he holstered his camera finally, allowing it to hang forgotten from his belt, as he noticed that Ashley was very much missing as well. But he knew exactly where he was and that made things all the more easier and he chuckled at Bryan's remark. "Out-asshole a tiger you said?" Doug asked, backing up back onto the sand and away from the lick of the ocean water, nodding in agreement to himself. "Yeah...she would." He mused to himself at the idea of the girl wrestling down a tiger, "Have you seen that body of hers in low light?" The DJ asked sleazily as his hands painted the shape of an hourglass in the air, whistling. "She got some serious heat packing if you know what I'm talking about." And for a moment...Doug frowned – realizing that Sorcha was still gone and he kind of feared for the life of any pirate who went near her after that image had been in his mind. But then he shrugged. No longer caring.

He caught the sight of them in the jungle, the flicker of red in the corner of his eye as the pirates zipped through the tree's and crept down the beach like a couple of commandos. Doug reached back to cup the back of his head as he continued to back up towards the oncoming pirates.

"But seriously bro. You need to chill out. Relax. Feel the groove – and don't do anything stupid." The last remark was spoken with the sadism that had been just waiting to be unleashed as the pirates shot past him, leaving air in their wake. One of them, the bigger one, went for Bryan, charging towards him as the butt of his rifle slammed into his face. The man barely had time to react as he topped down into the sand and the pirate leapt a top of him and wrestled him down into submission. The second tore into the surf and scooped up the blue eyed blonde as she had begun to turn towards Bryan's scream and as he tore her up from the water with no effort she screamed into his hand as he drug her back onto the shore as she feebly kicked and clawed at his powerful frame to no avail. Doug grinned at the display before him, hands still on the back of his head as he spoke, "Say hello to my friends guys." Friends indeed.

Doug giggled as he turned then, motioning for the pirates to follow behind him as he strolled down the beach towards the rocky enclave. "Boooooosss!" Doug practically whined as the enclave inched closer, and he sauntered around the rigid rock to find the red wifebeater toting pirate king himself. "See I told you she was a'igh." Doug stated, pointing towards Ash and looking back at the dragging figure of Bryan.

"My main man's got her all nice and safe right here." Doug was always a gigantic ass kisser and he moved forward, bumping his knuckles to Vaas' before he seized his camera and passed it over to him. "...you just got her?" Doug asked, looking around, and seeing no sign of the redhead, "Shiiiit."

Something didn't feel right as she crawled out of her little so called rabbit hole and she stood straight again. The beach was quiet. Even the ocean was quiet. And yet the wind howled something fierce and the sharp noise in the distant took her attention back in the direction of her friends. But she couldn't make it out, if it was a yell or a scream or laughter...if she had actually heard something or not. The smell was horrid and she covered her nose as she looked back to the distant, dark, heap left lying on the beach. Slowly she stepped forward, creeping closer and closer to the blackened object as her eyes dropped down to the sand when it's texture suddenly changed from warm and powdery to wet and rough.

Red. All of it was red.

She blinked as her brows knitted and her eyes cast outwards towards the sea, looking for any evidence of a Red Tide – anything that could have explained that...but the water was blue. She felt her blood running colder in her veins as she found the darkened heap again and took another four steps closer. As the object finally came into clearer focus she saw eyes and a gaping mouth and yellow crooked teeth. Arms bound to a bloody and hacked open chest while his legs...where the fuck were his legs. She gasped finally realizing that it was the body of a man...a human man and she drew back a step or two. She didn't like this wonderland anymore and her thoughts went to her friends, to Scha'tzi. They had to get out of here right now.

A shadow passed over her then, casting a darkness across the beach and the blackened body. The redhead spun on her heels as the figure of a red tank top stood before her, raising the butt of his gun and lunging towards her with a grunt. Sorcha ducked as she stumbled away to the side and the pirates attack hit nothing but air. He cried out as he stumbled forward and rolled into the sand with a loud curse spoken through a thick Jamaican accent. "You stupid fucker!" Sorcha snapped as she shot forward, her bare foot striking him hard in the balls as he grunted again. "FUCK!" He yelled as he curled upon the sand, cupping himself a he rolled onto his back. Sorcha was seeing red as she stumbled back, limping against the attack as her foot throbbed beneath her weight as she was turning to run down the beach. But she'd failed to notice the other pirate that had crept out from the tree's, a slow mover, but hardly an opponent she could even think to take down without a miracle. A hefty backhand collided with her cheek and she cried out as she was sent into the sand, blood spoiling her mouth from the blow. "Haha get up idiot." The heavily armored man said to his practically weeping partner as Sorcha scrambled up in a daze and the man seized her arms, lifted her clean off her feet and hauled her over his shoulder. His arm was like a massive limb of pure muscle that wrapped around her legs and kept her firmly planted as he moved down the beach with her with his partner waddling along behind him in agony, while glaring daggers at Sorcha, who could only lift her head back so much to glare back.

But she didn't hang loosely for long and once her mind had cleared her hands slammed against the back of the bullet vest the pirate wore, not that he even felt it. "Let me go!" She yelled, kicking against the mans arm – but he barely flinched. "We got one." She heard him speak, but unsure as to whom until she heard the beep of a radio. She propped herself up then as the two carried her out the distance to the enclave and as the man turned the corner a sharp elbow rammed into the back of his skull and instantly he released her in shock of the blow. And Sorcha fell from his shoulder, landing upon the rocks painfully as the barrel of the second's rifle slammed against the side of her head. "Do it again." The Jaimacan taunted, practically salivating at the idea of gore. That. Was a gun.

"Hey." Doug warned, "Don't bang up my bitch." Sorcha found him looking at her, "You son of a bitch..." She hissed. Doug only grinned at her.

"Doug, man." Vaas laid the camera in Ash's lap to cover her ears, shaking his head at Doug as though he were a misbehaving child. "You can't swear like that at ladies. It's not right, hermano. I am sorry about him," He added, releasing Ash's ears and shrugging good-naturedly as though his apology would be plenty to make it up to the injured redhead. "He's an asshole but, I tell him to do a job and he does it so we keep him around. Wanna watch a movie with me?" Without waiting for the blonde's response he settled back to get comfortable, adjusting the camera so it was visible to both he and his captive. "_That_ is a cute picture. You should smile like that more often," He called over to Scorcha, pausing the beginning of the footage to wave the still of all three girls laughing together.

Now that the rest of her friends were brought forward, the full realization of the situation left Ash feeling cold like she'd been doused in ice water. She would have liked nothing more than to simply bolt right then and there, but Vaas' surprisingly iron grip made it clear that escaping their current perch was not an option unless he wanted her to. A tinny-sounding laugh from the camera the man held drew her thoughts back to earth and to the little screen, where Doug had brought his camera to the pool's edge to capture the three girls in their swimsuits and Bryan with his feet in the water.

Amateur filmmaker, indeed.

With a groan Bryan forced his eyes to open despite the pounding in his head and his vision still clearing. One minute he'd been walking on the beach, and the next- what had even happened the next minute? It had all been so fast and then there was the blow to his head, he honestly wasn't sure. One thing did stand out to him, though.

_Don't do anything stupid. Say hello to my friends._

He pushed himself off the ground enough to sit up, slightly unfocused eyes scanning the red shirts for one in particular. He paused for a moment upon finding Doug's proclaimed 'main man' indeed in possession of Ash, who looked nothing short of terrified. So THAT was where she'd disappeared to. Locating Doug not far from the man he snarled, gathering his senses enough to cough out his thoughts. "What the FUCK... is wrong with you?" "Doug, your friend is talking to you. Answer him." Vaas gestured toward the black-haired man without looking up from the camera, but for the moment Bryan ignored him. -  
Everything seemed so bleak all of a sudden, colorless. As if time has suddenly stopped as a heavy hand pushed against her skull to stop her from looking at the face of the heavily armored man. She was still on the rocks and she cringed as the pain finally began to settle in. She'd landed on her back upon a jagged one and she hadn't noticed how slumped forward she really was until she tried to straighten out. Her body objected violently to the attempt and her eyes closed as she licked at the blood upon her lips, which had been split open. She was left to sit upon the hard bed of reef rocks with the rifle trained to the side of her head, the man who stood terribly lopsided obviously was taking no chances in the future with the safety of his nutsack. And how in the heavens had they managed to get into this situation? Who did they piss off up there huh? How could she have been so stupid not to notice something wasn't right? She saw her woman on the other side of the enclave, crying and whimpering as she pushed away from the sweaty pirate who made a game of trying to hug her. She couldn't even defend herself against someone like that...and she let her get there to begin with. Because she walked away and left her alone. Now she was in trouble...and this time she couldn't save her. Maybe Doug was to blame but really the fault lied in all of them. They were too trusting and a snake slithered into their garden and nipped at their feet. Doug was circumstantial...but it was all of their mistakes as to why they were here, they had no one to blame but themselves.

And they didn't understand. They were scared and angry. They couldn't think. And if they could they certainly weren't thinking rationally. Such was the human condition when faced with danger. They couldn't understand. But Sorcha did, she understood. And slowly she looked sidelong at the man with the mohawk as he commented towards her...she thought anyway and watched him sitting there with his arms around Ash. There was something sickening about him, something unsettling.

And then it happened. Bryan's shout broke the savage silence between them and the twinge in the pirate king's voice was all too familiar and did not go unnoticed. It was that shut the annoying fucker up kind of tone and Sorcha turned her head to find her bloodied friend.

Doug's head rolled back with his eyes as he turned on his feet to face the man. "Dude, I told you to relax. You don't listen." Doug replied, emancipating himself from any blame as he lifted his shoulders.

"Bryan." Sorcha spoke quietly to him, making sure that the man looked at her. Really looked at her as she shook her head, "Don't." She only hoped the man had enough sense to listen to her for once in his entire friendship with her. Screaming and yelling wasn't the appropriate course of action to take. Meeting aggression with aggression was what got people killed. He had to understand that, she needed him to understand that, or else...

_Click_

The sound of bullet cocking into the chamber of the gun froze her thoughts as she looked back at the DJ, now armed with a glock produced from who knows where. "How cute. You know man...you really should take her advice. You see...look at them." He gestured, by waving the gun backwards towards Vaas and Ash, pointing to Scha'tzi and her furtive pirate . "They aren't hurt. Because they know how to behave themselves. The look happy don't they? " His eyes flashed up to Sorcha, "You see her? She didn't behave now look at her. Look at yourself. You didn't behave either, look at you." Doug sighed, knowing he wasn't getting his point across, "I'ma translate it for you; either shut the fuck up or eat a bullet, bro. The choice is yours."

"Fuck you." "Forget it, hermano," Vaas sighed, pausing the video and laying the camera back in Ash's lap before hopping down off the rock. She should have been glad that the man had finally let go of her, but something about his face, his entire demeanor- something was different. With Doug there was nothing short of flat-out cruelty, but in Vaas? There was something that ran a lot deeper than that, a feral sort of sadism unmatched by anyone else present. Which was currently focused on the still-defiant Bryan, who stared the pirate king down with a glare. Very deliberately Vaas sauntered forward until he was in front of the angry captive, where he crouched down to be at eye level with him.

"You're a big man, huh?" His tone was surprisingly soft, though the more he spoke the more harsh he got. "You think you can save the day, take you and your little friends far, far away and off into the sunset? Is that what you think?" In a flash his hand was around Bryan's throat and at some point he'd drawn his knife that he now kept pressed just under the other man's jawline, all the while his tone growing in volume. "This is _my_ fucking island. You don't get to be shit unless I say so."

For what seemed like forever to Bryan, he and Vaas glared each other down until abruptly something seemed to snap in the other man. "I don't like that look," He snarled into his face, shoving Bryan away from him as he stood. Trying not to show that he was still struggling to breathe after the bruising hold on his throat, he watched the pirate pace back and forth like a caged animal until he came to a halt before him again. As suddenly as his temper had flared it had seemed to quiet, leaving Vaas staring down at Bryan with his head tilted slightly to one side as though listening to something no one else could hear.

Evidently his men already knew to make themselves scarce, as not a single one had left himself within arm's reach of Vaas even after he'd stopped yelling. "You play catch, amigo?" At first Bryan didn't realize Vaas had actually spoken- the question had been so random and so amicable it didn't even seem real, but there the man stood with an expectant look. "What?" Something in the way Vaas smiled then put him off immensely, as if he hadn't been enough beforehand. "Do you know how to play catch?" He asked again, this time speaking every word slowly like Bryan was a dim-witted child. While the American blinked dumbly at him, Vaas counted five steps forward before looking over his shoulder at him again. "It's ok; I can teach you."

Too late Bryan saw what was happening, as Vaas spun suddenly with a look of concentration and his blade held in one hand poised to throw. All he'd even seen was a flash of silver before the impact, and all at once his breath came in wheezes that rapidly lost their effectiveness. In his shock he dimly registered falling back, hearing someone's scream as if it were coming from far away.

Without thinking Ash scrambled down from the rocks to reach Bryan's side, horrified at the amount of blood already soaking into the ground in the short time she'd taken to get there. It wasn't as though she and death were strangers, but holding a friend's life in her hands and unable to do anything but watch it slip away despite best efforts was something else entirely. "Stop, stop," She murmured, preventing the man from trying to look around. It only made it harder to try and put pressure on the wound around the knife, even though she'd known from the start it was a lost cause.

"That looks really bad." Vaas knelt down next to the panicked blond to look over his handiwork with no shortage of pride. "Here, get the sand off his face. Tell him everything's gonna be ok. Tell him it's not as bad as it looks. Come on!" He shouted, looking incredulously at Scorcha and Scha'tzi. "He NEEDS you guys! Fuck, man, do something!" "Why?" With a frown Vaas started to tell Ash exactly WHY she needed to do something, until he realized she wasn't looking at him or the dead man in her arms, but at Doug now. That was just too good to pass up. He hopped to his feet to retrieve the forgotten camera, brushing the sand off the lens as best he could before turning it on Doug. "Hermano, she asked you a question."

Doug cringed at the vicious spat that came from Bryan and he knew in a second that it was all over for him. Shame really, profits would not add up as predicted too this time it seemed like. But it was all cool, the bitches were the real prize after all. Rarely did the Pirate's keep men for anything other then cheap entertainment such as this. In a way it was all just a tactic to scare the girls, make em see who was boss, and what happens to those that fight back. So their little minds could get turning and they could start bonding with their captors, that way they were so much easier to handle later on. This was no different. And hey...it wasn't like he hadn't warned him right?

Sorcha's heart was beating faster and faster as she stared across and down the rocks at her captive friend. Bryan … why did he have to be so stubborn? Didn't he realize that he was going to get himself hurt if he didn't stop? She didn't want to see him hurt...or dead as the case might have been. She wanted desperately to rise to her feet and slap him across his face, scream at him to shut up. That was what she wanted to do. She didn't want to loose a friend here, she didn't want to loose him. Any of them. She would gladly have taken his place if she could have, like she was wishing she was. With all her heart she wanted to be the one sitting there, glaring down that pirate without a single ounce of fear in her eyes. And she watched in horror as Vaas drew in closer and spoke to Bryan. But it was hardly a civil conversation. It wasn't a conversation at all. _Bryan...stop please_ She thought over and over again as she shook in her skin from the adrenaline pouring through her veins.

And then it was all over in a flash of sliver caught in the sunlight. The knife flew through the air like a bullet and sliced into him like he was made of butter and she watched with stinging eyes as her dearest friend fell backwards upon impact and Ash only seconds later had collapsed down beside him to try and stint his bleeding. Scha'tzi's screams were deafening...yet they sounded so distant and ruffled as her girl collapsed to her knee's in horror of what she had seen. Her heart ached and she wanted to go to her. But she wanted to run to Bryan most. Yet she sat petrified upon the rocks as cringed against the tightness of her chest, tears falling from closed lids as she listened to Bryan's labored, slowing breaths...until they stopped completely. She sobbed silently, hot tears falling into her knees as she bowed her head, unwilling to move, unable to speak. She couldn't look at him like that. She didn't want to see his dead face, she wanted her memories of him to be preserved with that charming smile on his face in happier days. Not like this...not dead in the sand on some fucked up island in the middle of ocean. In the middle of these murderers.

Vaas' taunts meant nothing in that moment. This man, had taken someone very dear to her...and he was practically laughing about it. Shuffling around like it was nothing, the human life he'd taken meant absolutely ...nothing. Neither woman moved to Bryan's side, leaving only Ash with his blood upon her hands. In that moment they had all effectively failed each other, it was over for them.

Doug was at a distance from the scene. Alone as his knuckle pressed against the side of his nose. He had watched the entire thing, and it wasn't his first rodeo with murder, but it was obvious in his very body language that Doug wasn't exactly as tough as he portrayed himself to be, that even after everything he was standing there trying to to piss his shorts. But he played it off with his laid back demeanor and when Ash addressed him he first looked at Vaas and the camera. Suddenly it wasn't so fun being the star of this show anymore. Reality had come knocking and slowly he looked at Ash.

"Money." He replied, shrugging, "Lots of money."

For a moment Ash could only blink at the man, looking more hurt than anything else by Doug's answer. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to get up and shake Doug by his shoulders, ask him what the hell was wrong with him, or just get up and slap him across the face. But she did none of these things, instead staring at Doug in utter disbelief with one of her closest friend's blood cooling on her hands. She let out a short, mirthless laugh as she met the cameraman's gaze, heedless of Vaas still capturing the entire moment- for what, exactly, she wasn't sure. The man was deranged and he'd made that horrifically obvious already.

"Well, this has all been very moving," Vaas stated, seeming all business now that his captives were sufficiently quieted and no further outbursts occurred. After a few moments of fumbling with the thing he tossed the camera to the closest pirate and motioned with his gun toward the three women. "Let's go!" He shouted when not everyone moved quickly enough for his liking. In seconds his men had pulled the three to their feet and began pushing them in the direction of the sprawling jungle, leading them along a worn path that countless other prisoners must have been led along. As if to stand as evidence of this, along the way there were several long-abandoned backpacks and many a mismatched shoe, likely lost in some struggle and never picked up.

Honestly, unless Buck had decided to leave the bar for once, the male of their little group hadn't been worth much. That, and Vaas did like having one person per group to single out, to use as an example. Often people thought he wouldn't resort to violence- where in the fuck they'd get that idea from he had no earthly clue. It wasn't as though he looked to be the friendliest of people. Likely it wouldn't even matter to Hoyt they were missing one hostage anyway, seeing as the girls were all American and pretty. Blondes and redheads were favorites, and with his luck he had both of those.

The only one he could really foresee problems with was the redhead, really. She'd taken two men to bring her back, one of which was complaining nonstop about his likely missing nut. The problem was, Vaas couldn't exactly just off one of the worthwhile hostages no matter what their temper was like. With that in mind he whistled sharply to get the heavy gunner's attention. "When we get back I want you to watch her. Ok?" He nodded curtly in Scorcha's direction, pausing to wait for her and the escort to catch up with him.

"You look upset, chica. Is your vacation not fun anymore? Just chill, relax, because all of us? We're gonna have a lot of fun together. I was thinking we'd make a video- who am I sending it to? Mama? Papa?"

And so they were all collected. Each girl picked up from the ground, the big hands of the heavy gunner had pulled Sorcha clean off the ground and planted her on her feet before violently shoving her down towards the sand. While the runner had seized Scha'tzi's arm and wrenched the crying mess to her feet, but rather then shove her he guided her while she covered her face with her hands. Ash was left to Doug who had cautiously made his way forward and waved his gun at her in some fashion, but he didn't dare touch her. It was obvious that none of them were going to make any more fuss from here on out...so the men were relaxed. All except their leader – but that wasn't unusual. Vaas was always in his own world, caught in his own war, and acting upon a reality all his own that wasn't real. The guy had turned to drugs a very long time ago to make him happy...and happy he was, and often foaming at the mouth with anger to boot. And as long as the boss was happy, everyone was happy.

They were lead in single file down into the mouth of the jungle. Bryan was left behind...like some piece of trash. Just left there on the beach for the gulls and crows to pluck at. She could still hear their calls even as the jungle separated before them and swallowed them hole in a maze of green's, reds, and trees so tall that their trunks were bigger then all three girls smashed together. She was a beautiful and magnificent beast, this island. But she was feral and sick all at once, sick with these red parasites and walked through the foliage with the smoothness of jungle cats...well, nine out of ten of them anyway. Sorcha was silent, tear stained eyes upon the ground as she took each step carefully with her bare feet. Yet it seemed every other step something was stabbing into her foot or her toe was smashed against something and she would hiss and stumble only to be violently shoved by the pirate behind her whom seemed to be growing more and more irritated with her inability to walk. Eventually he would just haul her over his shoulder again, but he wasn't there quite yet. He was still drinking in the sight of her gait. While the second man was at the back of the line, hand cupping the side of his inner thigh as he limped quite obviously over the rocks and roots and loose vines, cussing a little more with each painful step that he took. Whatever that whore had done to him, it was obviously bad and he glared something fierce at her back.

While they were at the back, Doug was at the front. He knew the way just as well as the others did and in the merging of bodies it just so happened that he was first so follow the leader. He walked casually with his pistol hanging in his hand at his side, clearly having no real intention to use it while Ash was to walk at his side, in close enough range to either be shot point blank or quickly grabbed should she try to bolt. But Doug was sure she wouldn't even try, Ash was a good girl. But she was no tough cookie, yet she wasn't as squishy as the whimpering blonde in the middle of the line was. The runner was in the back, well surrounded, and attended to by Vaas himself – whom clearly had noticed her temper wore like dunce caps on two of his men already. It was a good place for her, cause if anyone could deal with that cockhater it would be Vaas.

"You shouldn't be so upset." Doug said quietly, "He just wanted to fuck you ya know."

Apparently she was popular. Sorcha had noticed not that she was too particularly surprised but it mattered so little right now. She walked like the dead and looked just about the same. With a throbbing lip and feet that felt like they walked on glass she had very little to say even though her tears had dried up quickly. She wasn't one to really...cry after all. She was the tough one. She didn't have the luxury of being a weakling or showing her emotions too strongly. Yet as she watched each passing backpack and shoe she was drinking in the grim reality of this island, all those things belong to others lured here too. Which meant that this place was a hub for these kidnappers and that means it was most likely one vein of a much larger system. They had walked into a ring of some type. And this one, this ...thing... was the enforcer of that ring – but he wasn't the boss. That much she was certain of. Amber eyes had flickered upward to find Vaas as he grew closer from somewhere near the front of the line, having told the man who's heavy hand had shoved her for the upteenth time in the last five minutes that he was to babysit her when they got to where they were going. She heard the guy groan with a severe lack of enthusiasm back there. It made her feel slightly better, knowing she was making at least a few of their days complete hell. But she couldn't help to look past the pirate king as he walked just a ways in front of her to find her companions backs. She couldn't see their faces but she felt strangely alienated from them, like they blamed her for something. And maybe they did. She was always the one who protected them...and she'd sat there and done nothing like a coward.

She looked down in shame, shaking her head. She hated this. And she hated the thought even more...but Bryan was gone and he wasn't coming back. And it was her ow failure to blame. But she wasn't going to loose anymore friends to these fiends and she wasn't going to let them fall into this black world that lay ahead of them. They couldn't protect themselves...so she had to do it for them. Cause she was the hero, always the hero.

A memory flicked into her mind then of a green jacket with USMC patched onto the sleeve. A jacket worn by a man who's face she couldn't recall, but the name "Drake" was stitched onto the front pocket. He was kneeling down before her and she was enthralled in her teddy bear that she'd just saved from a plastic dragon and his hand combed through her auburn hair. _Don't let a tyrant take your freedom away from you._ Those were the words that he spoke before he got up and hauled his bag upon his shoulder and disappeared out the door. It was the first time and the last time she would ever see that man. And only a year later her mother would cry on the kitchen floor after a phone call. But she would never understand why at such a young age, not until she was older would she understand. She looked at Vaas as he walked there, so close she could touch him if she wanted to. But who in their right mind would want to? She'd probably get some venereal disease if she looked at him for too long or something. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, he probably hadn't. She smelt like the seat and sweat. Her nose crinkled in disgust. And then he looked back at her and for a moment she thought his eyes were yellow...were they green? Her eyes turned away, hoping he hadn't noticed her leering at him the way that she was.

And she made a sort of subtle expression as if to shrug and or disagree with him. This vacation never was fun from the start in her opinion. Just painful. "I don't like your fun." Sorcha replied blandly, looking away into the trees, "Don't like you either." She added venomously past her shoulder, earning another good shove from the heavy gunner.

For the first time since they'd begun walking Ash's expression changed from the zoned out, glassy-eyed stare as she turned to watch Doug with a sardonic half-smile. "Yeah?" She gave something like a quiet laugh, though there was no real amusement behind it. "You're unbelievable. Why would that matter? That's not the point. I still cared." She paused for a moment, her eyes burning with tears threatening to fall that she managed to blink back. "I wouldn't wish death like that on anyone. Not even you," She added softly, and she meant it at that moment. "I just wonder how you sleep at night, ever."

Rather than explode again, Vaas snickered loudly and cocked his head to regard the girl with a grin. "You don't like me?" He repeated. "I'm hurt. Really, I am. Here I am providing shelter for you, and getting mom and dad on the phone so you can go home, and you don't like me? That hurts, chica. Cuts me deep." He mimed stabbing himself in the throat with a knife, then feigned wide innocent eyes. "Oh shit. I almost forgot your friend got cut." He burst out laughing at his own awful joke, patting Scorcha's shoulder when she didn't join in. As they approached what must have been the pirates' base his good mood faltered for only a moment before quickly returning in full swing.

"Don't be so sensitive, nena. Look, I'll give you time to cool off, ok? And then when I come back, we're gonna talk about your ransom. Ok?" He nodded as though Scorcha had responded positively and broke off from the convoy then to attend to business elsewhere. "Think about it!" He called over his shoulder, and he was gone in the run down fortress.

_Ransom?_ Ash's heart sank and she could feel the blood drain from her face as the word echoed in her head. Of course they wanted ransom money, but it hadn't occurred to her until then to be concerned about it. Who the hell was she going to call? The pirates could try calling Reverend Cordell or his not-so-sweet right hand woman, but she knew for a fact they'd get nowhere with either of them. The only thing about that entire situation that brought any comfort was the thought of the religious lecture the caller would surely get. She doubted any of these men had ever been quoted scripture, at least nothing like her father.

That comfort was only momentary, however, as the full gravity of the situation formed a cold sinking feeling in her chest. If the price of their freedom was having someone willing to pay for it, Ash was going nowhere. Her college was full of _harlots and sinners and liars and you'll burn with them_, according to the two of them. She didn't even notice when she was ushered into a bamboo cage, didn't notice when the door was shut and chained and locked. She managed to snap out of it long enough to look Doug in the eye, not with any plea but with a look that said _You're responsible_ more clearly than any words could.

She sunk down to the ground to lean against the bars of her cage, realizing only then that in her state of disconnect she had no idea where either Scorcha or Scha'tzi had been taken. She hadn't expected to be all placed together, but she'd certainly wondered if they'd be nearby. Looking around, though, Ash wasn't sure if she just couldn't see them or if they were in entirely different parts of the compound.

_What now?_


End file.
